


Supernatural, Season 2, Episode 15, Tall Tales

by TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Analysis, Episode Review, Episode: s02e15 Tall Tales, Meta, Nonfiction, Season/Series 02, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 21:06:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16227329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer
Summary: Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode and for later seasons. Complete.





	Supernatural, Season 2, Episode 15, Tall Tales

Open to night. A college professor finds a young woman outside. He takes her up to his office, she comes onto him, and he gives a token protest before kissing her. Then, she turns a zombie.

Down below, Gabriel makes his first appearance. Dressed as a janitor, he locks up the building. He starts to walk away, the professor falls, and he turns to look.

When I first saw him, I mistook Richard Speight Jr. for James Van Der Beek.

My standard disclaimer is in effect: RSJ is a talented actor, he did an excellent job with his character, and I know nothing about the man personally. Any complaints about the character are solely about my feelings and interpretation towards/of the character.

A week later, having commandeered Sam’s bed, Dean is eating and listening to music. Sam is annoyed, and continuing to eat, Dean turns the music up.

Sam wants his computer back, and it’s established Dean thinks Sam is responsible for damage to the Impala.

There’s a knock on the door, and I see there’s a normal-sized fridge in the room. Sam answers the door to find Bobby. There’s exposition about how they asked him to come down due to not wanting to tell him about the case over the phone.

He has them sit down, and there’s a Sam flashback. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but Sam doesn’t come across as sympathetic in his own flashback. Either this is a subtle look at his self-worth issues in combination with an acknowledgement of some of his flaws, or someone involved in the scene doesn’t like the character much.

Two students tell him the professor was married with kids and had tenure. There’s an urban legend about a woman killing herself in room 669 and causing those who see her ghost to do the same. He goes over to where Dean is getting drunk with a party girl.

Back in the present, Dean protests. His flashback shows a more sophisticated woman who is unrealistically gooey over him. Sam literally speaks in ‘blah-blahs’.

I’m calling Sam’s version the more reliable of the two.

Bobby wants to know what’s going with them, but they assure him it’s just a case of being on the road and in tight quarters for too long.

Sam does another flashback of Gabriel letting them into the professor’s office, and despite my dislike for the ship, I can see why Gabriel/Sam is a popular one. They do have good chemistry, and Sam is definitely flirting with Gabriel.

Or, I suppose, he wishes he had flirted with Gabriel.

It’s established Gabriel has been working at the college for six years. He asks what their paranormal detector thing is, and they tell him it’s for a rewiring project. He says he’s the one who found the professor.

Present Dean protests Sam’s depiction of Dean stuffing his face like a chipmunk on the professor’s candy and insists he only ate one or two.

Unless a person is a loved one, has permission from a loved one, is literally starving, has a legitimate medical condition, or is a little kid, it’s not cool to eat a dead stranger’s food.

Sam asks if Gabriel saw the woman leave, and the answer’s no. He crudely informs them the professor made it a habit of bringing women up to his office. Sam asks if the building has a room 669, and the answer’s no.

Back at the hotel, beers are opened with bare hands. Dean says they should see if any “co-eds” have jumped in the past, and I didn’t even know about this term until I was reading a feminist article a few years ago. When I first saw the word, I thought it was describing a mixed-gender group of students.

Sam tries, but his computer is frozen on Dean’s preferred porn site.

Returning to the present, Bobby asks how the research went.

They explain something else happened. They didn’t see it themselves, however.

There’s a flashback to one of the students Sam talked to being abducted by aliens.

Bobby is disbelieving. He says, even if aliens do exist, he’s never found any evidence of them abducting people.

Into another flashback, the student is clearly traumatised, and he explains how he was probed.

He was raped. It’s not funny, and it’s especially not funny how Sam and Dean take such obvious amusement in his distress. Gabriel raped this student.

There’s a ‘joke’ about how he’s more traumatised about being made to slow dance by the aliens, but it’s not funny.

I once read about how Joss Whedon had been mugged numerous times, and the only time it truly got to him was when the mugger forced him to shake hands. To make it clear: I am not comparing rape and mugging. I am pointing out trauma is handled in different ways. A person might be able to handle a horrific event on its own, but something which, objectively speaking, is less horrific but still connected might be the thing that brings them the closest to or past the breaking point.

Bobby thinks either they’re exaggerating or the student is nuts.

There’s another flashback to the college. Gabriel has left a crop circle. They talk to a roommate of the student’s, and Sam is weirdly touchy-feely, hugs the man, and says he acknowledges his pain. The roommate says Curtis, the student, deserved whatever he got.

No one deserves to be raped, no matter how evil they are or what they’ve done. Even rapists don’t deserve to be raped.

Back in the room, still in the flashback, Dean points out the connection between Curtis and the professor is they were both less-than-stellar people. Sam can’t find his laptop, and Dean says he hasn’t done anything to it. They get into an argument.

In the present, Bobby asks if Dean did take the computer, and again, he denies it.

They tell him about another incident involving a scientist involved in animal testing.

Not all forms of animal testing are bad. Cosmetics and the like, yes, but there have been medical breakthroughs for humans found by doing certain types. Plus, not all animal testing involves suffering to and/or danger for the animal.

In the flashback, the scientist reaches through an outdoor vent to get a watch, and something bites him.

Next, the brothers break into the morgue. The mutilated remains have an alligator scale with them.

Then, they decide to split up and check the sewers. When Dean comes out, he finds the tires let out of his Impala and Sam’s money clip near the car. He confronts Sam.

Denying letting the air out, Sam tries to get his money back.

Sam doesn’t have a car of his own. I’m not saying he never would, but at this point in time, why would he damage the car he consistently relies on for safe transportation? Why isn’t this brought up?

In the present, Bobby tells them a trickster, a demigod, is responsible for the incidents and the animosity between the two of them.

They realise the janitor is likely behind everything.

At Gabriel’s apartment, he has a dog. He also has tons of sweets and creates women to have sex with him.

This is problematic, but I’m not sure if it’s another case of him committing more rape. Is he in a living vessel, or is he in a soulless but living one like Ruby during the fourth season? Or did his adoptive family of gods create him a body like Anna’s friends did for her? Are these women sentient humans with thoughts, feelings, etc., or are they akin to extremely realistic blow-up dolls/sex robots?

The next day, the brothers have come back, and he brags about having sex.

Pardon me if I don’t celebrate the rapist potentially committing more rape.

Pretending to have forgotten something, Sam leaves, breaks into Gabriel’s locker, and finds a tabloid.

Later, the brothers argue. Sam takes the side a tabloid isn’t proof Gabriel’s the trickster, and Dean insists he is.

The argument gets more heated, and Gabriel watches them from a window. Planning to go check Gabriel’s apartment, Sam orders Dean to stay and not do anything. Dean grumpily agrees.

Later during night (how long does it take to go to an apartment, break in, and then, come back?), Dean breaks into the empty college. In one room, he finds a large bed, music playing, a disco ball, and two women in lingerie. There’s also champagne glasses and a lava lamp. Gabriel says they’re a peace offering, and my hatred for him grows. He wants enough time to skip town.

Semi-bonding with Gabriel, Dean sincerely tells him he digs his style, and they share a laugh over Gabriel’s rape victim. However, Dean can’t let Gabriel go.

Sam and Bobby appear, and the hunters all withdraw stakes. Turning the women into fighters, Gabriel creates other such obstacles, but Dean manages to stab Gabriel.

The trio quickly leaves. Waving away their thanks, Bobby says they don’t want to be around when someone discovers the body. Sam tries to apologise, and Dean says, “Hey, me too.”

In the room, it’s revealed Gabriel had them kill a clone of him rather than him.

As I said, I do think RSJ did a wonderful job in this episode and in his other episodes. I understand many people wouldn’t classify what Gabriel did as rape, but it was. If not for this one aspect, I could understand the appeal of the character, especially in his later episodes.

What disturbs me the most is, I don’t know whether the writers consider what he did to be rape or not. If they didn’t, it’s not good, but it’s understandable why they’d be happy with the character and continue presenting him in a certain way. If they did, though, then, they deliberately made fun of rape victims.

Fin.


End file.
